Word: lahti
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...movie's most articulate and charming characters. And, despite the anti-Communist theme, the film is a subtle refutation of Reagan-era optimism. These Americans, after all, are not can-do patriots but meek, dispirited folks who simply want to get along. "Just surviving," says Devin's sister (Christine Lahti). "No heroics, no strength of character, not even dignity...
...Mary Tyler Moore) is the ideal mom. She loves hubby (Ted Danson) and the kids; she stretches her body on the rack of aerobics to atone for uncommitted sins. And yet something is missing: oh, a sense of her own radiant personhood. Can she find it with Sandy (Christine Lahti), a TV reporter who needs a best friend too? Maybe not, since, by just the darnedest coincidence, Holly's hubby and Sandy's lover are the same wonderful...
...There are ranker implausibilities, and sadder ironies, in this egregious comedy-drama. Life and death, both contrived, salt the plot; the dialogue freezes in the actors' mouths like psychobabble on a stick; the picture remains immune even to another silk-purse performance by Lahti, the American cinema's best hope for a smart, mature, vulnerable funny woman of the '80s. Mary Tyler Moore carried that standard handsomely through the '70s in a sitcom co-created by Allan Burns, who wrote and directed Just Between Friends. To see them flail here is like running into your dream girl a decade later...
...plant seem ripe to make an oddball ensemble, Director Jonathan Demme deflects their few chances for feminist fun. Through the oilcloth of nostalgia one can still spot some fine performances. Hawn unerringly registers Kay's every emotion with the wide-eyed intensity of a six-year-old; Christine Lahti is a delight as the tart cookie who lives next door; Holly Hunter shines as a brand-new war widow. With their devoted handiwork, the Swing Shift aircraft almost takes off. -By Richard Corliss
Although Hawn, Russel and Lahti are effective together--playing, carousing, even arguing -- even their camaraderie does not escape the contrived manipulations of the film. Why does Kay finally decide to go out with Lucky after she's turned him down every week for the last month? Her awkward explanation. "You know I think you're really swell" is hardly a sufficient clue. Was her initial reluctance coy, or indicative of some inner moral turmoil...